SIR JAMES CARROLL IN THE SOUTH.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1171, 5 July 1911, Page 8

SIR JAMES CARROLL IN THE SOUTH.

SPEECH AT DUNEDIN. REPLY TO OPPOSITION CRITICISM. IBy Telegraph—Press Association.) Dunedin, July i. Sir .Tames Carroll addressed a large gathering of citizens iu the Garrison Hall this evening, and received a most attentive and'enthusiastic hearing. He .said the statements made bj ill , , llasfoy arid Mr. Allen as to overtures being made to the Opposition' by the Government to , join iii with.it could not be substantiated, and he read n cablegram from Sir. Joseph Waul, under the date of June 14, to the effect that they were absolutely without foundation.. He was proud to say that the Government had enjoyed (he confidence of the people for 21' years. Sir. Hcrdman, speaking at •'Wellington, had divided the people into three classes— those who were bribed, those who were intimidated, and those who were free. By saying this he declared two-thirds of the people, of the country to.be cofrupr, which was to say they were corrupt nocmise they were .intimidated, and because they stood, the present Government.-What a nicy thing to" say of them! It was what he called political profanity. Why, he asked, did people stand it? It was in their hands to turn the Government out. He left the people to answer Messrs. Masscy, Allen, and Herdman.

The Public Debt. Mr. Jfassey had given an address at Hastings on the previous evening, in the course of which he had said that Sir James Carroll was wrong in statins that 76 per cent, of the pubic debt was in-terest-earning, as only 63 per cent, was returning interest, and the result was an increase in taxation. This 'represented ' only a ' difference of thirteen' per cent. Now, this was great homage from tlie. Leader of the Opposition to come with 13 per cent, of his statement, and therefore the rest must be true.. (Laughter-.jl. The. Public Debt to-day stood at 81 millions. What was self-supporting was the- amount expended 61V railways, £25',G02;000. The railways belonged to the -people, and diiUthey begrudge this '25 million? ■ If they" offered them in the pifblic market 'an "American syndicate would give 50 million for them. Loans to local-bodies'ac-counted for £4,882,000; and , would , 'anyone deny that that provision was.not a good one? Who would say that they should not help their local bodies to secure money at a cheap rale of interest, and thus provide for the settler and back blocker? Telegraph and telephone lines represented £U31,000. . Was. that wrong? Was it "not the people's service? They talked about Socialism, and held \ip their hands in horror at" the mention of it. Thjs was ■ true State Socialism, and it was paying its way. Their reserve fund securities represented £800,000. They had that amount in London, and they were gilt-edged securities. Thus they had self-supporting concerns representing a total of £32,715,000.'

Profit Earning. Then there were profit-earning concerns. First they- had the Advances' to Settlers and Workers, ,£7,939,700, which represented one of the most beneficent pieces of legislation ever passed in any country in the world. Then they had lands for settlement, represented by J!G,303,485. There had been no land for small. settler's in the south, and the.. Government had'to buy up.large estates to bring closer settlement. All over the Dpminion the State had conic to the rescue- of the small settler :'n this -manner. Then they had an amount of half a million rppre"sented by the Bank of New Zealand shares. Thus they had .£14,743,185 earning profit. Then they had a total of .£15,034,825 indirectly bearing interest. Of this, the amount expended on roads and bridges construction was .£6,871,251. How could they do without these? The sinus expended on public buildings was .£5,240,251.- Purchase of Native lands was represented by .£2,461,16". Finally, New Zealand- Consols represented .£462,166. ,lo indirectly interest-earning loans might reasonably be added those raised for immigration, .£2,463,000, for improving -tourist and health resorts, .12131,507 ;• but even without these, the above loans which were not felt by the taxpayer amounted, to .£02,493,020, or 7G per cent of the total. Non-interest earning portion was represented by ininiigration,., Maori war loans. £2,. 357,000; old defence loans, .£2,783,000; harbour and lighthouses, .£573,000; development of goldfields and coal mines, .£937,000; tourist and health resorts, .£131,507; and scenery • preservation, .£40,000. This was-the explanation of the total- gross debt that stood against their names. . Borrowing.Mr. Massey, in one of his speeches, spoke of theliuge borrowing of last year. He said ■ Uie present . Government had borrowed (ij millions in one year. He . (Sir James ..Carroll) frankly admitted that, and he would show them what it was for, and ask them if there were any items they could do without. It comprised.railway construction, £1,600,000; additional rolling stock, .£700,000; land settlement and goldfields development £1,000,000; purchase" of Native lands, ,£100,000; advances to settlers, .£1,675,000; advances to workers, .£325,000; other public, works, ,£200,000; and Dreadnought; .£l,2so,ooo—total, £6,850,000; .The Opposition would have it that members of the Government were putting all this money in their pockets. Innuendo and insinuation were the blackest crimes in the category of political warfare. The Opposition knew of these figures nnd why had it not told tho people of "them? '

Native Lands. Then Mr. Massey had said that the Acting-Prime .Minister had materially assisted him in calling attention to - one of . the" greatest evils of : the country, namely, Maori landlordism. Why was that plrraso Maori landlordism used?'lt was to stir up prejudice in the minds of the white people against their brothers. What was the difference between Maori landlordism;and pakeha landlordism? (A voice: "None.") There- should not be. There wc.ro 40,000 Maoris in this country, their kith and kin, and if they divided up the. whole of the land left to them it would ■ not. cover 30 acres per head. Sir James Carroll concluded by referring to legislative enactments of the Government and the position of the Opposition, cap in hand, going to the people and asking them to give them a. chance. Had the Opposition suggested anything'in regard to nuance, land (bar their cry of freehold), or any humane or social measures or anything for the benefit of the workers? Sir James Paid he had benefited very much by his visit to the south. The people had been most hospitable, irrespective of politics, and had received them with open arms.'

Speech by the Hon. A. T, Ngata. The Hon. A. T. Ngata, in the course of a brief address, said the fact oi a balfcasle occupying the position of ActingPrime. Minister of-this great country was the grcalest ■ compliment that the white people. could pay to anyone who. belonged to a coloured race. The ideal of (he while man wns the individualisation of Native land titles. How long was it. going to take the Government to accomplish it? -It would, with all the resources tit tho back of the State, take 30 years. A mislnke had been made in defining Maori titles in accordance with Native customs. That wrong they could never put right. It was a hopeless job to individualise titles, hut between settlement and inuividnalisntion they were making the most of the situation. So long as the Maori was more open to the temptation of hard cash so must they havo restrictions to protect him against the move persevering and more intelligent white man. Hβ hoped tho day would quickly come when, as a member of the young Maori party, they could on their merits say to white people. "Now come along," but for the present he would ask that they should extend to the Maori their protection in Order to ensure his preservation.

Sir J. Carroll and party leave for the north in the morning.